Who is Carlos Sainz Sr.? All about the former Ferrari driver's father's racing legacy in motorsports
Former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz's father, Carlos Sainz Sr., is a motorsport legend and a former world rally champion. He won the world rally championship twice in the 1990s. His son, a former Red Bull junior, joined the pinnacle of motorsport in 2015 when he was selected as the Toro Rosso driver alongside fellow rookie Max Verstappen.
Although Carlos Jr. gave a tough fight to his Dutch teammate in the same machinery for a season and a half, the latter was promoted to the main team. The Spanish driver stayed with the Faenza-based outfit until the latter stages of 2017 before leaving the Red Bull stable to join Renault.
After taking the French team to P4 alongside Nico Hulkenberg in 2018, he drove for McLaren for the next two years. Following sterling performances with the British team, Carlos Jr. was picked as the replacement for the departing Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari, where he stayed until 2024. He will be joining Williams F1 next year.
Carlos Sainz Jr. has racing in his blood as his father, Carlos Sr., is a well-known personality in the world of motorsport and a celebrated rally driver.
Who is Carlos Sainz Sr.?
The Spanish racing legend was born in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1962, and had developed an interest in squash and football, which led to him giving trials at 16 for Real Madrid CF. But he decided to pursue a career in motorsports and began rally racing in 1980.
He won the Spanish Rally Championship twice, in 1987 and 1988, and finished runner-up in 1986. He was given his first appearance in the WRC by Ford in 1987 and was with the American brand for the following year as well before jumping ship in 1989 to Toyota.
What are the racing achievements of the Spanish Rally legend?
Carlos Sainz Sr. stood on the podium in three consecutive races in his first year with Toyota and followed that up with his first title in 1990. He then narrowly lost out on his defense of the title in 1991 to Juha Kankkunen but roared back in spectacular fashion the next year as he won his second title in three years after finishing ahead of Ari Vatanen and Kankkunen.
Although it was his last title in the WRC, he finished runner-up a total of four times and held the record for most starts in the series before it was broken by Finnish co-driver Miikka Anttila.
In the latter stages of his career, Carlos Sainz Sr. shifted his focus to the Dakar rally and won the iconic event four times, in 2010, 2018, 2020, and 2024. His triumph earlier this year made him the oldest Dakar winner at the age of 61.
He also formed his own team named Sainz XE team in the all-electric SUV off-road racing category and partnered with QEV Technologies. He drove for the team in 2021 and 2022 with Laia Sanz, finishing P3 in his second year, before giving the seat to another racing legend, Mattias Ekstrom.